It is a painting of India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. As usual, he wears his white Gandhi topi, with a pink rose tucked into his jacket. But the familiar beaming expression is absent. Instead, Nehru appears weary and despondent, seated with his hands clasped in a brooding posture — burdened, it seems, by the weight of building a new nation.
The portrait, painted by Satish Gujral in 1957, is an example of how the artist dealt with the emotional and political temper of his time. It is among the works on view at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, as part of ‘Satish Gujral 100: The Centennial Exhibition’, on display till March 30.
Organised to mark Gujral’s birth centenary, the show features various paintings, sculptures, drawings, murals, architectural material, and personal objects from public and private collections.
Learning to see
Gujral was born in 1925 in Jhelum, now in Pakistan. At the age of eight, a near-drowning accident followed by excessive anaesthesia left him hearing-impaired, with only a child’s grasp of Urdu and Punjabi. However, the accident increased his dependence on visual expression and refined his visual awareness.
He studied art at the Mayo School of Art in Lahore and then the Sir J.J. School of Art in Bombay. He was one of the modern masters of his time, which included artists like V.S. Gaitonde, M.F. Husain, Tyeb Mehta, and Krishen Khanna.
Like many of his contemporary peers, Gujral also witnessed the trauma of Partition, which had then scarred an entire generation. That trauma is extensively noticeable in his early works such as ‘Mourners’ (1947–48) and ‘Snare of Memory’ (1954). In 1952, he earned a scholarship to study under renowned muralists Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros in Mexico. Gujral took away from them a long-lasting conviction that art ought to be socially conscious.
On returning to India, Gujral redefined mural-making by introducing textured, sculptural surfaces using ceramic, stone, metal, and concrete.
Politics in form
The large-scale exhibition has been divided into 15 sections across the gallery — displaying different artworks made out of distinct mediums and styles.
Gujral's political works from the Emergency (1975–77) and the Delhi riots of 1984 make up a sizable portion of the exhibition. He used metal, leather, rope, and burned wood to illustrate aggression and moral harm. Silencing, suffering, and loss of dignity are evoked by scarred surfaces and tied figures. After the 1970s, the master revisited the themes again in the 1990s.
In one of the artworks, ‘The Unknown Soldier’ from 1992, the artist carves two helmets in the upper part of a large wooden panel — the golden edges of the helmet together burnt to appear like a continuous sinuous wave-like structure. The choice of red highlights the ferocity in the piece, while the wooden relief itself conjures themes of devastation and unrest.
One of the most personal sections of the exhibition gives a glimpse of Gujral’s studio, displaying his books, brushes, colour palettes lathered in thick paint, pairs of spectacles, old photographs and other items.
Also an architect
Gujral's artistic practice evolved significantly throughout the years. Later on, he painted horses and zebras, among other creatures. Folktales, music, and spending time with his grandkids all contributed to the joyful return of colour in his paintings.
Distinctive Tantra and pop-culture inspired works are richly colourful, while the family’s interest in sports may have influenced his paintings of men and women riding unusual, horse and bull-like creatures. A particular technique in these works gives the forms a striking play of light and shadow.
In addition to creating sculptures and paintings, Gujral left a significant architectural impact. He received the Order of the Crown from Belgium for his design of the Belgian Embassy in New Delhi, which became a landmark of modern Indian architecture. Al Moughtara Palace in Riyadh, Goa University, Ambedkar Sthal in Lucknow, and the Indira Gandhi Centre for Culture in Mauritius are some of the other significant projects by Gujral.
Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, Ferose Gujral, his daughter-in-law, described the centenary year as a significant one. “We lost him in 2020 during COVID-19, and we always hoped he would live to see his 100th year,” she said. “This exhibition marks the beginning of a centenary year where we document, archive, and share his legacy — his art, his architecture, and the histories he lived through, from Partition to the making of New India.”
Gujral, who received the prestigious Padma Vibhushan in 1999 and was honoured both in India and internationally, continues to be remembered as an essential figure in Indian modernism.